I know there's also zamzar.com and keepvid.com (not sure about the legality of sites like this, though) and you can always upload them to teachertube.com or hulu.com. Our district won't let us watch YouTube in the classroom, even for educational purposes.

Be aware that downloading Youtube videos is against Youtube's terms and conditions - only streaming is allowed.

I created an educational website which links to Youtube videos for teachers to use with the class. It plays through Quietube which means there's no risk of displaying any obnoxious comments to the class. As it plays through Quietube, it may or may not be permitted in your school.

(Please consider signing the online petition on the homepage to allow this site access to schools in UK. The petition may also eventually help with other similar sites that also get filtered such as TeacherTube)

You don't have to have live internet to access youtube. If you have a laptop (with internet at home) you can load the whole video (pr many videos in separate windows) the night before and just leave your computer on standby until you need to use it in class.

Wow! How amazing is youtube! You don't know how to introduce your topic? Well, go on youtube and research you subject! You'll find many interesting videos! Songs, stories, analysis...tips? You can find whatever you want! In elementary school, songs and rhymes are part of the classroom routine. Bored to sing the same old song every year? Go on youtube and find new ones! Or another version, new gestures.. etc. Possibilities are infinite. Nowadays, it is rare that a classroom doesn't have a computer plugged on internet. Use it! ICTs are important and we must include it in our teaching. I did not know that it was forbidden to download a video (even though I haven't done it) from this website, but for educational purpose is it still forbidden? It is true that it may be easier to download the video instead of going on the internet the day you want to present it and realize that it's not online anymore... Well, that's technologies!
I don't understand why some school boards block the access to youtube. Yes, there are a lot of videos that are not useful, funny, disgusting... But there are so many other videos that can be useful, interesting and EDUCATIONAL!

During my second practicum, my associated teacher had a canon in his classroom. We used youtube almost every day. On Halloween day, we showed our grade 1 class ''The Skeleton Dance''. We also asked the students to dance and reproduce the skeleton moves. They had so much fun! YouTube can be very beneficial and helps create a great learning environment.
Some school block the access to YouTube and I think it is unecessary! This will not stop kids from watching ''forbidden'' videos: they can watch them at home anyway!
ICT's should be used more often in the classroom.